Traffic heading north from Seaside Heights after the polar bear plunge is shown at a standstill along Route 35 north Saturday night, February 22, 2014. RT35JAM0222C IMAGE COURTESY OF NEWS12 ~

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Route 35 a standstill after Seaside Heights plunge...: Lane closures from the construction along Route 35 has left traffic at a standstill leaving Seaside Heights after the polar bear plunge event. VIDEO COURTESY OF NEWS12

Traffic heading north from Seaside Heights after the polar bear plunge is shown at a standstill along Route 35 north Saturday night, February 22, 2014. RT35JAM0222B IMAGE COURTESY OF NEWS12 ~

Traffic snarl

Scan the QR code to see a news report about the traffic jam on Route 35 Saturday.

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TOMS RIVER — Despite official anxiety over a possible repeat of this past weekend’s epic traffic jam on the northern barrier island, the 30th annual Ocean County Saint Patrick’s Day Parade will go forward as planned March 8.

“We cannot cancel that parade,” Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari said Wednesday at an agenda session of the Board of Freeholders. “It would be absolutely devastating to the tourist industry, which we’re trying to revitalize.”

The annual Polar Bear Plunge in Seaside Heights returned to the borough Saturday for the first time since superstorm Sandy and coincided with temperatures approaching 60 degrees. Seaside Heights Mayor Bill Akers has estimated the size of the crowd in attendance was about 15,000.

But once the event was over, major gridlock ensued when motorists leaving the borough became snarled in traffic on Route 35 — the only north-south artery on the barrier island. Construction has reduced traffic to one lane in each direction, and in some sections along the route is reduced to a single lane of traffic for both directions. That last set-up requires individual police officers to take turns alternating traffic patterns, which results in gridlock.

Watch the video above to see some of that gridlock.

Vicari said the traffic debacle comes at a time when the county government is trying to build public confidence in its tourist industry and convince Jersey Shore vacationers that Ocean County will be ready to receive them this summer. While he said the county is grateful to the state for the $225 million reconstruction of Route 35, which sustained catastrophic damage during Sandy, the state Department of Transportation needs to do a better job in communicating and coordinating with county and local officials.

Getting someone at the state agency just to return their telephone calls would be a nice start, Vicari said.

“I’ve never seen traffic so bad in my life,” he said. “Traffic was 14 miles long, it was terrible.”

Freeholder Jack Kelly, county director of law and public safety, said the county has never before seen a road project of this magnitude. The four-lane, 12.5-mile road is being rebuilt to be 24 inches thick, which is three times the old concrete road. There are plans, too, to replace the drainage system with new pipes and pumping stations to pump storm water into the bay.

“This is a large-scale project, and my fear is, it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” Kelly said. “On some issues, we’ve made some progress and on other issues, I’m not real happy with the response from the DOT.”